The construction of a Bailey bridge to connect the landslide-hit areas, where several people are believed to be stranded, alongside the deployment of sniffer dogs and over 1,000 rescuers from Central and state emergency response teams conducting massive search operations, constitutes one of the largest rescue efforts in the Wayanad, devastated by a deadly calamity.
India conducted nationwide civil defence mock drills simulating multiple hostile scenarios like air raids, fire emergencies, and rescue operations across several states and union territories. The drills, dubbed 'Operation Abhyaas,' aimed to enhance emergency preparedness in light of recent terror attacks. The exercises involved coordinated efforts by various agencies, including civil defence personnel, police, fire and emergency services, and the military. Mock drills were conducted at various locations, including railway stations, malls, and high-rise buildings, showcasing the response capabilities of authorities in different emergency scenarios. The drills highlighted the importance of public awareness and cooperation in dealing with real-time emergencies.
IAF pilots and crew dodged low hanging clouds, mist covered hills, steep valleys and landed on broken landing grounds to rescue civilians in Wayanad. In one mission, they had to descend vertically to get close to the survivors. IAF flew over 80 missions, saving lives and giving hope. This is how they did it.
The search operation was suspended around 6 pm on Friday due to heavy rains, an NDRF official said.
Rescuers hunting for the crashed AirAsia plane on Friday detected 'pings' believed to be from its crucial black box, a top Indonesian official said, raising hopes of unravelling the mystery of the deadly crash.
The earthquake took place at 03:41:01 (UTC+05:30) at a depth of 18.5 km. The magnitude of the earthquake caused pulses to travel from Sidi Ifni in the south to Rabat in the north and beyond.
Divers were on Saturday sent to investigate underwater pings that may be coming from the flight recorders of the AirAsia plane as efforts continued to retrieve the jet's tail from the bottom of the Java Sea.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
At least 65 people, including seven Indian nationals, are believed to be missing after two buses were swept away by a landslide in Nepal and pushed into a swollen river on Friday, according to media reports.
In addition to that, 68 people still remain missing, with 100 more sustaining injuries in the disaster.
Raisi's condition currently remains unknown, Iranian state news agency IRNA has reported, after the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in the country's East Azerbaijan Province.
As many as 135 people have been killed in the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy and 170 others rescued, Gujarat minister Rajendra Trivedi said on Tuesday.
As two more bodies were recovered from the accident site on Tuesday, the total number of confirmed dead has climbed to 71, Nepal Army spokesperson Narayan Siwal said.
Hundreds of people are facing a shortage of food, safe drinking water and sanitation in Kathmandu following the natural disaster, according to eyewitnesses.
The AirAsia aircraft that went missing after taking off from Indonesia with 162 people on board may be at the bottom of the sea, a top Indonesian official said on Monday, as the multinational search for the Airbus continued amid fading hopes of finding any survivors.
They said at least four such cases are being looked into by the anti-terror agency officials.
The search for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people in the Indonesian waters met a dead end on Monday.
At least 16 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in Telangana while the unprecedented rainfall and floods in Andhra Pradesh over the past three days affected about 4.5 lakh people leading to the evacuation of more than 30,000 to relief camps.
At least nine people have been killed and 77 people trapped across Taiwan after a powerful earthquake struck the island's eastern coast, CNN reported, citing the National Fire Agency (NFA).
Doomed AirAsia jet's fuselage was found on Wednesday raising hopes of retrieving the remaining bodies of the 162 people killed in the tragedy, as investigators downloaded the contents of black box recorders and were likely to crack the crash's mystery soon.
The bodies of three labourers were on Saturday pulled from the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a construction site in the Vasant Vihar area in New Delhi amid heavy rain, officials said.
The over a century-old bridge, which had reopened five days ago after extensive repairs and renovation, was crammed with people when it collapsed around 6.30 pm on Sunday.
Two large metal objects have been found in the search for the AirAsia airliner in the JavaSea, Indonesian officials said on Saturday, even as continuing bad weather held back efforts to hunt for the plane's data recorders.
There is no official announcement yet on the fate of the 123 passengers and nine crew members as hopes receded about finding any survivors, considering that the plane crashed and exploded in a mountainous area.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
The multinational search for the missing AirAsia flight entered the third day on Tuesday after a futile day-long scanning of the JavaSea where the Airbus 320-200 is believed to have gone down with 162 passengers and crew.
Two dozen students and four teachers were on a picnic and taking a boat ride in the Harni lake when the tragedy occurred in the afternoon, they said.
Tomy has now been shifted to INHS Kalyani, the naval hospital of Eastern Naval Command, for observation and medical assistance as required.
However, the National Disaster Response Force, which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services.
Amid reports of sighting of more debris by a Russian search team, divers on Tuesday recovered two more bodies from choppy waters in the JavaSea, though there was still no trace of the crucial black box of the crashed AirAsia aircraft that crashed nine days ago.
Early on March 26, 2024, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States collapsed after it was struck by a container ship, the Dali.
'Not only have we rescued 1,700 fishermen but on the morning of November 30, we evacuated 1,044 fishing folk, otherwise the missing numbers would have been much higher.'
Rescuers found 30 bodies with 5 of them still strapped to their seats as multi-national teams equipped with sophisticated equipment narrowed the search to a 5 sq km area of the choppy Java Sea where some debris of the ill-fated AirAsia jet have emerged.
Navy divers on Monday resumed efforts to find more wreckage of the ill-fated AirAsia jet with no signal detected yet from the black box recorders, as rescue teams expanded search eastward to locate large objects of the plane believed to be on the ocean floor.
Focus has shifted to emergency relief to save people waiting for help.
'Other countries go out on a limb to save even a single life.' 'What to talk of civilian accidents and disasters, even our military does not have a priority for Combat Search and Rescue,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
Even as hope faded for the family of the pilot flying the missing AirAsia plane, a despairing message came from his daughter.
On skeletons being seen by the Navy team, the sources said the water inside the mines has high Sulphur content which can decompose the bodies very fast.
From the landing of Chandrayaan 3 to the bombardment of Palestine by Israel, a look at some events that shaped the world in the second half of 2023.
At least 23 people were killed and dozens injured as tornado and strong thunderstorms swept across Mississippi, United States, late on Friday, leaving a trail of damage for over 100 miles.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances